Saturday night, date night at the garden. Woo Hoo! Excitement! I haven't been able to see many variety of birds so far this year, so on this night I was expecting more of the same. Nothing! However, I was pleasantly surprised. I was able to add a few pictures to my collection of really bad bird shots.
There is a bridge where we often see a blue heron, so we stop on the bridge and look closely to make sure he isn't hiding in the shadows like he is known to do. He wasn't there. As we prepared to drive on, I happened to look up and saw Mr. Baltimore Oriole watching us from his perch high up in the top of a tree.
We saw several indigo buntings, but they didn't pause long enough for a picture. We also saw 4 Goldfinches. I did get some really bad shots of them through the fantastically filthy truck windshield. They are sad excuses for pictures, but will post them later anyway.
As we pulled into the driveway and drove around back of Bro O's house, I saw this Cardinale inspecting the backhoe. Wonder what he needed to dig up ormaybe he was looking to uproot a tree due to feud with neighbors. Anyway, this is another shot through the dirty windshield. He flew before I could get out of the truck.
Then there was the usual red-winged blackbird—scolding me for being near their nest. I was about to put my camera back in the truck and go help Hubs pick zucchini when Hubs said, "Stand still and look over there." I followed his finger and saw...
... Mr. Heron trying to hide on the far side of the pond. Shockingly, he stayed put while I took about 100 really bad shots with my poor excuse for a zoom. After deciding I had enough poor photos, I wandered over to the garden and helped Hubs.
Since Mr. Heron was still there, I decided to try sneaking a little closer. My slow, steady footsteps gave me this shot. I turned my attention to the view of an elderberry bush and the grain bin. I moved the auto setting to landscape and took the shot. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mr. Heron taking off. I whipped my camera around and got this...
...a really bad shot of Mr. Heron flying away. I almost wish I had just watched him in real life instead of through the camera.
Linking to
the Bird D'pot
12 comments:
love the heron shots! and the cute cardinal dressing up the backhoe, too.
and mr. redwing!
I always wonder if I had a better lens, would I get better shots. I really have a horrible time focusing, and my autofocus does not work right now.
I love that next to last shot of the heron...well, and the others, too.
I know the feeling of missing real life because you are always looking at it through a camera! But these were really worth it!! NO to the dirty windshield, I can not see any dirt at all!!! The cardinal on the brilliant backhoe is marvelous!!! I love the colors. And the heron shots are very good! LOVE the scolding blackbird, again no dirt visible but a great picture!!
I find all your birds shots are great. I love the color red on birds especially the Cardinal.
Nice shots of the heron...one of my favorite birds! It looks like he caught something in that second to last photo. Great photo of the blackbird!
Love the redwing blackbird!
You shouldn't complain too much about your bird shtos, Roan. Some of them are really good! I miss the colorful birds you get in N. America, ours are so boring. :)
Excellent images...and such a great variety!! Loved reading your commentary also...I think we have all had the less than focused and missed shots.
Thanks for linking this weekend. You shared some terrific birds.
Great shots. I especially loved the blackbird and heron .
That blackbird shot is great! I know what you mean about wishing you had watched him in real life instead of through the viewfinder. I often argue with myself over that. :) You know, I kind of like that blurred image of the GBH. It looks rather artistic...I have a friend that blurs some of her shots on purpose.
The pictures are fine! I'm the same way ... before blogging and digital cameras I used to be thrilled just to see birds. Now I'm a bit disappointed if I don't get a good picture. And that's really not right.
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